The present invention is an improvement over the envelope and sheet feeding apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,868. As disclosed therein, the feeding apparatus includes three widely spaced suction cups supported on individual arms movable between an initially lowered position and a raised position where the suction planes of the suction cups are parallel to and engage the bottom exposed surface of the bottommost sheet in a stack of the same held in a top loadable stacking frame, so that the operation of the apparatus does not have to be interrupted when the supply of sheets is to be replenished. The stack of sheets preferably rests on a slightly forwardly inclined support tray which terminates short of the lower front end of the stack to leave an opening running the entire width of the stack to expose thereat the bottom sheet in the stack for engagement by one or more of the suction cups. The front end of the stack rests on a rigid support ledge so that when the bottommost sheet is pulled from the stack by the lowering of the suction cups, the weight of the stack above the same will tend to maintain this mext sheet within the stacking frame. The suction applied to the suction cups is released in the lowermost position thereof where the sheet is applied to a feed or drive roller which directs the sheet to other sheet feeding apparatus.
The aforementioned drive roller generally feeds sheets one at a time from each stack thereof to a conveyor, which is frequently a belt conveyor, which delivers the same to a terminal point where each sheet so delivered is received by a sheet pick-up member associated with the printing or other equipment which is to handle and process the sheets. The front margin of each sheet should desirably come to rest against this abutment wall. Any "bounce-back" of a sheet as it is moved against this wall can alter the desired longitudinal position of the sheet which can interfere with the proper processing thereof by the sheet receiving equipment involved. Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide a reliable means for inhibiting "bounce-back" of a sheet as it is delivered to the terminal point of the conveyor, and which is adaptable to sheet material of various thicknesses and flexibilities.